Abbey Park Campus Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are cared for by a team of attentive and caring staff, who are invested in supporting children's learning and development from a very young age. Young babies are stimulated through positive interactions with staff. They smile and coo as a familiar staff member gives them cuddles and chats with them. Young babies learn to strengthen their core muscles through tummy-time activities. They lift their heads to look at the interesting items that have been placed around them. A staff member stays close by, carefully supervising to ensure the safety of the youngest babies as they lie and play on the floor.

Children are learning the skills which they will need to contribute positively to society, through thoughtfully planned activities devised by staff to promote such qualities. For example, older children are asked to vote on the book they want to share during group story time. They identify their preferred story by selecting either a tick for one choice or a cross for another. Children build their vocabulary as they repeat the word 'tick'. They develop their problem-solving skills by counting the votes. Children then all happily listen to the winning story. This form of democracy helps children to make group decisions which are fair.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• Celebrating the vast diversity of children lies at the heart of this nursery. Staff invite parents to share cultural traditions with children, such as henna body-art painting. Different nationalities are well represented through the choice of resources provided throughout the whole nursery. Children engage in a variety of learning experiences to develop their understanding of different cultural festivals. This helps them to understand what makes themselves and their friends unique.
• Staff have created an environment where children can explore a variety of exciting objects and treasures. Children are becoming curious and inquisitive learners. Staff know what they want children to learn, and support children's development well through spontaneous learning opportunities. Occasionally, however, some staff do not respond quickly enough to secure new learning when children show an interest in something new.
• Children are becoming confident communicators. Staff organise mealtimes to be sociable and language rich-occasions. Children sit together and talk with their friends and staff about their families and lives at home. They discuss the different milk that they are drinking. Some children explain they drink milk from cows, while others describe how their milk is made from oats.
• Staff use clear instructions when they ask children to do something, for example, to help tidy away. They role model what they expect from children. Staff use visual cue-cards to help children who speak English as an additional language to understand what is being asked of them. In turn, all children respond quickly. This helps to create a well-organised and harmonious environment.
• Staff use some effective ways to help new children become comfortable in their new environment, but not all children settle quickly. Some settling-in plans have not been tailored specifically enough to meet the different emotional needs of children. Staff do not always find out accurate information about children as soon as they could do, such as what children like and dislike.
• The manager and staff understand the importance of secure relationships for children to thrive and become emotionally secure. Each child is allocated a key person. However, in some instances, the organisation of this system does not fully benefit children. For example, occasionally, a child's key person changes while they are still securing their initial relationship. That said, over time children become securely attached to all staff and relationships are positive.
• The management team and staff are successful at engaging and supporting the entire family unit. They recognise and respond to the differing needs that some families have. For example, staff organise workshops where parents can learn new skills, such as cooking. This benefits children as their parents can then provide healthy and nutritious meals at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to support staff to recognise how they can expand on children's developing interests to secure new learning
• develop the setting's settling in process further so new children quickly become emotionally secure within their new environment
• refine how the key person system is organised so children's emotional well-being is consistently supported from when they first start.